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Anti-Trump Protests Spread Across U.S.; Trump to Meet with President Obama Today; Donald Trump's First 100 Days. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 10, 2016 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(CHANTING)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Now it's time for American to bind the wounds of division and unify our great country.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We must accept this result and then look to the future.

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This needs to be a time of redemption. Not a time of recrimination.

TRUMP: I promise you that I will not let you down.

(CHANTING)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not Democrats first. We're not Republicans first. We are Americans first.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to NEW DAY. It is Thursday, November 10th, 5:00 in the East.

And we do begin with breaking news, because thousands of people taking to the streets in cities across the country to protest President-elect Donald Trump. Demonstrators stopping traffic on major freeways, some setting fires in the middle of the street, many chanting, quote, "Not my president."

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Democracy is about a fair process. Not outcomes that everyone likes. And many in this country are experiencing a range of negative reactions. The idea of two Americas to be captured in this big meeting today.

President-elect Trump heading to Washington to meet with President Obama to begin the transition of power.

We have it all covered for you. Let's begin with Deborah Feyerick live outside Trump Tower in New York.

I was down there last night. A lot of angry voices.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there are a lot of angry voices, indeed. A lot of people chanting, "Not my president, not my president." Also, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go."

You could feel the anger here on the streets, Chris, and not just here in New York, but all across the country.

[05:00:01] People feeling that Hillary Clinton who have predicted to be the winner of this election, having failed to clinch the win, they are very upset, they are very disappointed and they are taking that anger to the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PROTESTERS: Not my president. Not my president.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Protests breaking out in at least 25 cities.

Hundreds of demonstrators stopping traffic in Los Angeles on the busy 101 Freeway.

While thousands more protested on the streets of L.A., burning Trump's head in effigy. Police arresting dozens of protesters across the country.

In Chicago, thousands marching down the eight-lane highway to the site of Donald Trump's hotel.

The disappointment of some voters, turning to anger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hillary had more votes. More human beings voted for Hillary. This isn't fair. This country needs you to stand up and walking to the Supreme Court and say one vote equals one vote.

FEYERICK: In New York, at least 5,000 people, including pop star Lady Gaga protesting outside Trump Tower.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You saw this qualified woman to be president being superseded by a man who has no qualifications at all for the office.

FEYERICK: Thousands more targeting the newest hotel in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House.

The march turning to peaceful demonstrations and vigils. Most of these protests erupting in major cities where Hillary Clinton won, like Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And, Chris, as you spoke to many of them last night, you know, the interesting thing is that there's a lot of disbelief. There's a sense this was not the outcome these people had wanted and that's why they're here. They said that they were fighting racism and sexism and Islamaphobia and they really feel that this is not the way that their country wanted to go and that's the voices that you heard last night -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Deb, we have heard from people and they say this is a surreal dream. And they continue living in and so, we can see them trying to process it now.

Deb, thank you for that reporting.

President Obama and Donald Trump will meet this morning at the White House. This is their first public step towards a peaceful transition of power. But, of course, there has been a lot of bad blood.

CNN's Athena Jones is live in Washington with more.

How is this going to go, Athena?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. We'll have to see. We know this is not a meeting the president ever wanted to have, ever thought he would have. He spent months saying that Donald Trump was unfit to be president. And that he didn't think that Trump was going to win.

Well, now, Trump has won and the focus shifts to this peaceful transition of power. We heard the president and his team talk about how much they appreciated how smoothly and professionally George W. Bush's team handled that transition back in 2008, 2009. And so, we heard the president say in the speech in the Rose Garden yesterday that he instructed his folks to follow the example set by the Bush team.

He also spoke yesterday repeating some of the themes we heard from him way back in 2004 when we were first, many of us were first introduced to Obama, talking about red states and blue states. Take a listen to some of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election. But the day after, we have to remember that we're actually all on one team. This is an intramural scrimmage. We're not Democrats first. We're not Republicans first. We are Americans first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: We are Americans first. So, echoes of 2004 there.

Now, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has said that it's not clear yet, it is too early to say what the impact of Trump's election will be on Obama's top policy priorities. But we know that Donald Trump ran on promises to undo much of the president's legacy. And so, we expect to see him try to repeal and replace Obamacare.

He wants to reverse executive actions on immigration and on power plant regulations. He says he wants to withdraw from agreements like the Iran nuclear deal and Trans Pacific Partnership, the trade deal, and the Paris climate accord. We've also heard from Congress that TPP most likely is dead. So, a lot could change with the Trump presidency.

I should mention that after the meeting at the White House, that Trump and Vice President-elect Pence will also meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Back to you.

CUOMO: Different aspects of legacy, right, Athena? I mean, you have the policy parts with the people on the streets, at least here in New York, last night that I was seeing this is about the legacy of tolerance. What will America become under a President Trump? So, those are questions that remain to be answered.

Another big list of questions is who's going to be part of the government? Trump has a couple of months to fill thousands of jobs as he prepares his administration. It's one of Washington's favorite parlor games. Who's going to get which spot in the cabinet?

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty live in Washington with the look at some of the names being floated.

What are you hearing?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chris, it's really interesting. President-elect Trump and his team have really been hunkered down and huddled behind closed doors, going through all these candidates for these top jobs.

And many of the names they will not surprise you. A lot of them pulled from his tight inner circle from the campaign and now could go on to fill out his cabinet, and the new inner circle in the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY (voice-over): On day two as president-elect, Donald Trump now looking to turn his promises into policy, beginning with his call for unity.

TRUMP: Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division.

SERFATY: Words echoed by President Obama and Hillary Clinton, both pledging a peaceful transition of power.

OBAMA: We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country.

CLINTON: We must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.

SERFATY: Trump now in the throes of building his administration.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We have to get ready to form a government.

SERFATY: Potentially rewarding some of his top supporters. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus one perspective option for Trump's chief of staff.

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: I haven't thought about it. And right now, I'm chairman of the party. I'm excited about that job.

SERFATY: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who has led his transition team also being eyed for top posts. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, under consideration for attorney general, or secretary of Homeland Security. While Newt Gingrich is being floated as the prospective secretary of state.

Other possible cabinet picks, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions for defense secretary, billionaire businessman Carl Icahn for treasury secretary, and retired Army General Michael Flynn for national security adviser.

When Trump takes office in January, he'll have extraordinary power to push through his agenda with Republican majorities in both houses of Congress.

RYAN: He heard those voices that were out there that other people weren't hearing. And he just earned a mandate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SERFATY: And certainly, new attention is being paid to what candidate Trump said about his first 100 days in office would look like. He has made some several broad promises like cleaning up Washington, protecting American workers and restoring the rule of law. But he's also made some very specific ones out on the campaign trail, too, that he will repeal Obamacare, renegotiate trade deals.

And, Chris and Alisyn, of course, one of the biggest promises he's made -- to build that wall on the Mexican border.

CUOMO: Cleaning up Washington sounds a lot nicer than drain the swamp, which is what he was actually saying. Now, how is he going to translate that?

Sunlen, thank you very much.

Let's discuss today's big meetings and a protest with CNN political analyst and "Daily Beast" Washington bureau chief Jackie Kucinich, political editor of TheRoot.com and professor of political science at Morgan State University, Jason Johnson, and "Washington Post" reporter Abby Philip.

Let's deal with the big meetings that are coming today and then we'll deal with the optics around it.

You cannot have a starker contrast between two political animals, than Trump and Obama. Clearly, Jackie, Trump's election is reaction formation in part to President Obama. But President Obama is a man who is known for tolerance of criticism and is struggling to find a way to meet with somebody else. Trump got in because he tolerates no critics.

But is this about them today when they meet or you think this is just a formality?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: This is about the country. This is about the transfer of power. They have to make this work. And, you know, these are also two people who don't personally like each other very much. But, you know, they have to power through it.

CAMEROTA: Jason, why does President Obama have to be gracious? I'm curious about the optics of this.

JASON JOHNSON, THEROOT.COM: Right.

CAMEROTA: Are he and First Lady Michelle Obama going to the front door and glue smiles on their face and graciously open their arms and their home to Donald Trump, the man who questioned President Obama's birth, his citizenship, his family, his credentials, his legitimacy, or can they just send an intern to the front door to let him in?

JOHNSON: You know, you would think. That's what a lot of people think they would do, Alisyn.

But here's the thing -- this is always been president and Senator Barack Obama. He's always been the dad in chief. He's always been the one who wanted to be more gracious. He's always been the one who's been noble.

It's in fact one of the things he thinks has defined his presidency, his desire for civility, his desire to be reasonable. I'll be honest with you, I don't think it will be like that when they're together in private. I think it might be a lot more contentious.

But I think publicly at least, Obama recognizes that no one benefits, no one in this country, no one in the government benefits if they appear to be cantankerous.

[05:10:02] CAMEROTA: But in private, you think that they're actually going to go at it a little bit?

JOHNSON: Yes, I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, who's he talking to? You know, I'm sure at some point, Barack Obama will say to him, look, that stuff that you said about me, I dealt with it fine, right? I'm still president, I won twice. But if you take that attitude to running this country, you will see a revolt at the state level and in Congress at likes of which you couldn't realize. I think he's going to tell him that and I don't think Trump's going to want to hear it.

CUOMO: Also, look, it's not about him. It's not his house. It's the White House.

JOHNSON: Right.

CUOMO: Transition of power has to be done. The president recognized that many time.

Abby, so what we are seeing on the streets on all these different cities is not too -- is not unexpected, right? I mean, there are a lot of hard feelings here and people are trying to deal with the Jekyll and Hyde thing of having President-elect Trump. He came out and said the things that a president usually says when they win, let's bind the wound and be together.

The problem is, for many people on the streets, and, you know, millions and millions of people across the country, he created the wounds. So, how do you deal with that contrast?

ABBY PHILLIP, REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Right. I mean, I think you can't really blame folks for taking Donald Trump's words at face value. And frankly, for most people who are elected to the presidency, what they say they're going to do is the strongest indication of what they actually do. So, it is not surprising to see that.

But this is also the sort of perennial Monday morning quarterbacking in which everyone looks back and says, wow, we really should get rid of the Electoral College because it is not working out the way we want to. And I think it's just a wake-up call for some folks who have not been paying super close attention to the electoral process that this is in fact the way it works, where one candidate can win the popular vote and the other can win the Electoral College and thus become president.

And I expect the tone at the White House today is going to be entirely set by Donald Trump. You know, if he comes out the way he did on Tuesday night and is very conciliatory and has a plan for how he's going to express desire to bring the country together, I think this will be a meeting that is cordial in public and cordial in private. I don't think President Obama feel that this is the opportunity for him to settle scores with Donald Trump at this point.

CAMEROTA: Jackie, I predict it will be cordial in public and private because when you meet with Trump one-on-one, he is polite and he is connected and he does sort of feed off the dynamic of wanting you to like him, and all of that stuff. And so, I think it's going to go so much differently than it ever did in public between these two.

KUCINICH: I agree with you, because a lot of what Donald Trump did and does is for the show. Now, should he temper that now he's the president-elect of the United States? Yes. He should, because it's going to start having real life repercussions if he goes off the rails on television and then behind the scenes, it's like, we're good, right?

CAMEROTA: Right.

CUOMO: Well, also, look. I mean, I forget who it was. Somebody in "The Atlantic" talked about the difference between the media and the Trump followers in terms of how they view Trump. That the media takes Trump literally, but not seriously, and his followers take him seriously, but not literally. So, he has an advantage in this which is pleasing his base, Professor,

is the easiest thing for him to do. You know, they got him in there. They feel vindicated. Now, his task is to walk back all of the ugliness that not just has people in the streets, but has more people in the country voted against him than for him, thinking this guy represents us at our worst.

JOHNSON: And economic markets that are concerned and foreign leaders that are concerned. I reminded that old '72 movie "The Candidate," where at the end, the guy says, what do I do now?

I mean, if this meeting ends up being civil, it's going to be in part because Donald Trump uncharacteristically show some humility and says, can you help me? I mean, that would be amazing if he did. But if he said, look, you know, I recognize I have never done this before. President Obama, can you give me, say, two pieces of advice that I could use going forward? If that's what happens in this meeting and I doubt it, but if that's what happens, I think that will be a good sign going forward.

CAMEROTA: Unfortunately, we'll never know, Abby, because this will happen behind closed doors. And so, we won't know exactly what these two say. You know, they won't come out and reveal it, I don't expect.

So, you know, it's just going to be fascinating to watch this from a distance.

PHILLIP: Yes, the best we'll get is a photo op that I predict -- this is the one thing I will predict. It is going to look extremely awkward. We're going to have two people who really hate each other, sitting next to each other on the couch with cameras flashing. But that's what we do in this country. That's what I think we're going to see today.

I don't expect to see any drama. But I also don't expect that Donald Trump who has not had a history really of reaching out to people in this way for sort of advice or anything really.

[05:15:03] I think he believes he can do this job and he's going to go into it believing that the guy who did it before him didn't do a good enough job. That's why he was elected on Tuesday.

CAMEROTA: Panel, thank you. Stick around, if you would, because we want to talk about the Donald Trump transition team. He is working furiously to prepare the president-elect for the first 100 days in office.

So, what will it look like, how will Donald Trump govern? All of that is next on NEW DAY.

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CAMEROTA: President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is hard at work today, planning what his first 100 days in office will look like. And how will he govern?

Let's bring back our panel for some insights. We have Jackie Kucinich, Abby Philip, and CNN senior political reporter, Manu Raju.

Manu, let me start with you. Here's what he has said he wants to do on day one, and that was drain the swamp.

[05:20:03] Propose congressional term limits, freeze hiring at some federal agencies, reduced federal regulations, have ex-government officials wait five years to become lobbyists, ban officials from lobbying on behalf of foreign government, ban foreign lobbyists from U.S. elections.

How much of that is doable, Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, some of that he can do on his own, including trying to reduce regulations, freeze government contractors, those sort of things. Those are the things that he can do administratively. The stuff he needs to do legislatively, a lot harder, Alisyn.

Yesterday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, explicitly ruled out placing term limits on members of Congress. He said that is not going to happen.

And, of course, Donald Trump has made that a centerpiece of his "drain the swamp" campaign. There are a number of issues that Donald Trump promise on the campaign trail that we're going to have a difficult time getting through a Republican controlled Congress. Particularly the Senate that is going to have 52 Republicans and getting anything passed requires 60.

I asked Mitch McConnell at his press conference three times yesterday if he supported a wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico. He would not say. He just said, I believe we need to do something effective on border security.

He knows that is a difficult thing that Republicans could get behind. It really shows, too, it is uncertain. Republicans don't know if this is -- Donald Trump is going to come in and push Republican ideas like tax cuts and overhauling and repealing Obamacare or instead champion those very controversial and populist proposals that made him -- that helped propel him to office, Alisyn and Chris.

CUOMO: Campaign in poetry, govern in prose, Jackie Kucinich. It is nothing poetic what Donald Trump was saying, a lot of it was ugly and divisive. But the good news for him is he's not going to lose his base. He doesn't have to build the wall on day one. He doesn't have to go on some intolerance campaign. He has just to get things done.

There's got to be a whole list of things other than term limits that will look like progress to people and quickly.

KUCINICH: I mean, Donald Trump has problems maybe another president- elect doesn't. Kim Dozier and Jane Harris at "The Daily Beast" has story today that they are having trouble even staffing the intelligence and national security down -- not just the cabinet secretary. The people who actually make the government run day-to- day. Most of them, you will remember, people who are the top Republican officials have signed letters saying they would never support Donald Trump. And so, he is having trouble filling very critical positions.

CAMEROTA: Wait a minute. So, his team is calling people in the national security sector and --

KUCINICH: And they're saying no.

CAMEROTA: They are saying no, I don't want to be part of the Trump administration.

KUCINICH: Yes. That is daunting. That is going to be an early problem for him that we haven't seen before.

CUOMO: But he said he had that list of almost 100 big shots, past and present, who wanted to be with him. I mean, isn't there plenty of available human capital out there to put in those positions?

KUCINCH: Not in terms of, you know, the people who have done this before in Republican administrations, which he might say, well, I don't want this, guys. But it's -- there's more than 100 positions to fill.

CAMEROTA: Abby, it's just incredible. It looks today as though, let bygones be bygones, you know? You hear people coming out, even Democrats, high profile Democrats saying, you know, we're all going to work together, but, of course, behind the scenes, it is different. It is interesting to hear Senator Mitch McConnell today versus what he said when President Obama was becoming president.

So, listen to what Mitch McConnell said yesterday and how they're all going to work together. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: I think it is always a mistake to misread your mandate. So, I don't think we should act as if we will be in the majority forever. We have been given a temporary lease on power, if you will. And I think we need to use it responsibly. I think the American people are looking for is results. And to get results in the Senate, as all of you know, it requires some Democratic participation and cooperation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROT: Abby, it will require participation and cooperation and the American people want results. This is the same man who was part of the meeting before President Obama actually took office and said, we are going to block him at every step of the way. He will get nothing out of us in terms of cooperation.

PHILLIP: Yes, there is nothing like having a clean sweep to change your mind about that.

But also, I was kind of surprised by the reaction among Democrats as well. You got some statements from the Hill from Elizabeth Warren's office, from Bernie Sanders' office, basically saying, hey, if Donald Trump wants to do some things to help grow the middle class, we're on board to help him.

I mean, I think Chuck Schumer, you're seeing Democrats really making a decision pretty early on that it's worth trying to see how they can make the government work. And I think there is an important reason for that. It's because of how Donald Trump is sort of in this weird ideological space. He is neither very conservative on a lot of policy issues nor liberal on other issues.

And so, both Republicans and Democrats are realizing they cannot necessarily count on Trump to sort of draw the ideological line. They have to be the ones to do it. And that's going to create interesting be bedfellows in Congress I think in the next few years. It's really unclear how that's going to work out. But I think, so far, it's a positive sign to see both Democrats and Republicans suggesting they can actually work it out.

CUOMO: Manu, quickly, do the Democrats have the ability to block? I mean, Obama had both houses of Congress with him. But the Republicans organized differently. And they work unanimously in a different way than the Democrats do.

RAJU: Yes, and they do, Chris, because the Republicans will have 52 seats. They need to get 60 to get most legislation passed. There are five red state Democrats who are going to be up for re-election in 2018, who will probably be signing with Republicans on a lot of key votes. But that's only 57. That means you need at least three more, and that's not easy, particularly if Trump is pushing controversy bills, Chris and Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It's going to be very interesting to see how long this sense of cooperation lasts. Thank you very much, panel. We'll check in with you later on the program.

All right. A little gear shift here. It's a story that we first brought you, surgeons operating for 27 hours to separate the two little boys here in New York. Remember, they were joined by the head.

This morning, we have an update on their condition. Could they be back home by Christmas? Answers ahead.

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